Christie Mayo, 85, a longtime resident of Central Massachusetts, died after a brief illness, in Ocala, Florida, on February 21, 2024, surrounded by her children and wider family,
Christie was for 37 years the wife of Nathan Mayo of Bolton, Massachusetts, a Navy pilot during the Korean War and a dedicated aircraft hobbyist, who predeceased her in 2018. She was previously the wife of the late Donald Bennett Jr. of Holden, Massachusetts, a Norton Company executive, by whom she had two children: Donald Bennett III (Safareen Khan) of Ocala, Florida, and Dale Bennett (Robert Boyle) of Nashua, New Hampshire. She is also survived by eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Christie was the daughter of Raymond and Helen Donway of Holden, proprietors of Donway’s Bridal Shop in Worcester and developers of Birchwood Acres in Holden. She attended Pomona College in California and received degrees in English and teaching from Clark University and Assumption College in Worcester. For more than two decades, Christie taught English at Wachusett Regional High School in Holden before retiring in 1999. In retirement, visiting with family was her greatest joy, along with reading novels and traveling abroad. She leaves three siblings: Lucile Loree of Edmonds, Washington; Walter Donway of East Hampton, New York; and Roger Donway of Poughkeepsie, New York.